500-foot Las Vegas Ferris wheel cleared by FAA for takeoff

That's odd. There was a big controversy a couple years back in San Diego regarding a much smaller building that was 2 stories above the safety limit near a small airport. Then again, being near the coast, fog ocurrs more frequently there.

Isn't the approach in Vegas pretty much standard anyway? The location is near the north/south runways, and the other east-west runways are well south of there. A plane would not theoretically ever be traveling in the path of the ride.

Such concerns in the UK often bring into account the fact that if there was an incident at the airport that caused planes to have to circle the airport and the more space up there, the better - I guess.

If you need to circle around, you aren't doing it at 500 feet.

That would definitely be more exciting though. Maybe they could sell tickets for that ride experience. :)

If I recall Jeff is right, the planes come in on one side of the strip, make a 180* turn to final approach. I know that the FAA has beacon lights required on structures that are of certain heights. How do you put a beacon on a rotating structure, or do the themeing lights cover that requirement?

I don't know, but if you miss seeing anything in shiny, extremely illuminated Vegas (day or night) you must be blind. And I'm guessing they frown upon that in aviation. ;)

Yes that sounds like something that would be frowned upon in aviation. Referee's and umpires on the other hand... ;)

Just out of curiosity, who has the largest Ferris wheel to date?

According to Wiki, The 165 m (541 ft) Singapore Flyer has cylindrical motorised capsules and is described as an observation wheel by its operators, but credited as "world's largest Ferris wheel" by the media.